]]>http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2011/01/eus_clean_sky_makes_progress_with_laminar_wing_flight_test/feed/0Mexico’s Interjet to fly biofuel demo flight to Paris in time for air showhttp://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2011/01/mexicos_interjet_to_fly_biofuel_demo_flight_to_paris_in_time_for_air_show/
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2011/01/mexicos_interjet_to_fly_biofuel_demo_flight_to_paris_in_time_for_air_show/#commentsThu, 20 Jan 2011 15:20:06 +0000http://the-green-wing.flightglobal.derek.rbi-blogs-dev.rmgc.russellsharpe.com/?p=25Mexican low-cost carrier Interjet is aiming to conduct a biofuel-powered demo flight between Toulouse and Paris to coincide with this year’s Paris air show.

Garza tells me he is getting involved with the demo flight because “we want to show the world that it’s possible” and he is keen to highlight that the Yucatan region of Mexico is capable of producing significant amounts of jatropha.

]]>http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2011/01/mexicos_interjet_to_fly_biofuel_demo_flight_to_paris_in_time_for_air_show/feed/0Where there’s muck there’s brass. And jet fuel.http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2011/01/where_theres_muck_theres_brass_and_jet_fuel/
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2011/01/where_theres_muck_theres_brass_and_jet_fuel/#commentsThu, 13 Jan 2011 14:56:58 +0000http://the-green-wing.flightglobal.derek.rbi-blogs-dev.rmgc.russellsharpe.com/?p=24According to this report in the UK’s Guardian newspaper, Australia’s Qantas Airways is to follow British Airways’ lead and team up with US bioenergy firm Solena to build a facility that turns household waste into jet fuel.

It now looks as though Qantas plans to follow suit, with The Guardian reporting that the carrier will later this month unveil plans to build the world’s second plant to produce jet fuel from waste (the BA one being the first).

The list of airlines signing up to alternative fuel trials and investing in biofuel production facilities is growing, and I’m thinking it might be a good time to put together a feature for the next Flight International Environment Special Report.

Any tips, contacts, ideas that you’d like to see included, please drop me a line.

]]>http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2011/01/where_theres_muck_theres_brass_and_jet_fuel/feed/0Algae-derived jet fuel may not cost as much as you might thinkhttp://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2011/01/algae-derived_jet_fuel_may_not_cost_as_much_as_you_might_think/
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2011/01/algae-derived_jet_fuel_may_not_cost_as_much_as_you_might_think/#commentsWed, 12 Jan 2011 12:22:53 +0000http://the-green-wing.flightglobal.derek.rbi-blogs-dev.rmgc.russellsharpe.com/?p=23Argentina-based microalgae producer Biocombustibles del Chubut (Bc) is claiming that it could eventually sell algae-derived jet fuel for €800 ($1,038) per tonne.

To put this into context, according to IATA’s jet fuel monitor, the cost of one metric tonne of kerosene as of 31 December was $837.

Here are some pictures illustrating what goes on at Bc’s plant in Puerto Madryn:

Bc’s test lab for BioJet A1 fuel uses an old engine which has been transformed into a “Bioflex” turbine:

A routine test of biomass growth:

An example of a “blind pond”, where algae can be cultivated without sunlight:

But before you get too excited, Bc points out that “the industrialisation of algae farming for fuel production is still at the very beginning”, and it has “yet to be demonstrated that the industrial production is both ecologically and economically viable”.

Still, nice to see some figures emerging.

]]>http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2011/01/algae-derived_jet_fuel_may_not_cost_as_much_as_you_might_think/feed/0Unloved and unwanted aircraft find new leases of lifehttp://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2011/01/unloved_and_unwanted_aircraft_find_new_leases_of_life/
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2011/01/unloved_and_unwanted_aircraft_find_new_leases_of_life/#commentsMon, 10 Jan 2011 15:34:19 +0000http://the-green-wing.flightglobal.derek.rbi-blogs-dev.rmgc.russellsharpe.com/?p=22Scrapped airliners are providing both a challenge to those seeking to find ways to avoid dumping aircraft interiors in landfill sites and an opportunity to companies that are coming up with innovative ways of reusing the materials.

]]>http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2010/12/aviation_comes_out_of_cancun_climate_talks_unscathed/feed/0Just a little reminder that climate change talks are taking place in Cancun…http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2010/12/just_a_little_reminder_that_climate_change_talks_are_taking_place_in_cancun/
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2010/12/just_a_little_reminder_that_climate_change_talks_are_taking_place_in_cancun/#commentsMon, 06 Dec 2010 15:01:25 +0000http://the-green-wing.flightglobal.derek.rbi-blogs-dev.rmgc.russellsharpe.com/?p=20You could be forgiven for not noticing, or forgetting, that climate change talks are currently going on at the UNFCCC’s COP16 meeting in Cancun, Mexico.

The talks are aimed at reaching a global agreement for curbing greenhouse gas emissions when the Kyoto protocol expires in 2012.

The Cancun negotiations have received much less press attention than the talks that took place a year ago in Copenhagen, and expectations have been kept (deliberately??) low on any potential outcomes.

During the two-week event, which ends on 10 December, the airline industry will be promoting the recent ICAO framework to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from aviation, which my colleague Lori Ranson summed up nicely here.

At the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe’s recent Aeroweek conference in Brussels, MEP Holger Krahmer summed up the level of pessimism surrounding the Cancun talks by saying: “No one really believes Cancun will lead to a binding emissions reduction agreement.”

It’ll be interesting to see if this pessimism turns out to be realism later this week.

]]>http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2010/12/just_a_little_reminder_that_climate_change_talks_are_taking_place_in_cancun/feed/0World Wildlife Fund pushes for emphasis on hydrogen jet fuelhttp://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2010/12/world_wildlife_fund_pushes_for_emphasis_on_hydrogen_jet_fuel/
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2010/12/world_wildlife_fund_pushes_for_emphasis_on_hydrogen_jet_fuel/#commentsMon, 06 Dec 2010 13:58:46 +0000http://the-green-wing.flightglobal.derek.rbi-blogs-dev.rmgc.russellsharpe.com/?p=19Last week I braved the snow and headed to Brussels to attend an aviation and the environment roundtable at the European Parliament, part of the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe’s Aeroweek conference.

The most interesting and engaging comments to emerge from the roundtable came from World Wildlife Fund director for global energy policy Stephan Singer, who used his presentation slot to call for more investment in researching and developing the use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel for aviation. Here’s the full story.

The note of optimism in Singer’s speech over the use of hydrogen was somewhat dampened by Safran chief Jean-Paul Herteman, who made the following point: “If you look at the Airbus A380, we know how to make the engines and store hydrogen but there would be no available room left for passengers.”

However, Singer’s main point was that amazing things can happen when they are given emphasis and funding. “People have a tendency to underestimate the technological breakthroughs that can happen in a few years”, was his retort to Herteman.

]]>http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2010/11/chiles_sky_becomes_latest_airline_to_enter_into_biofuel_pact/feed/0Solena makes progress on waste-derived sustainable jet fuel planthttp://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2010/11/solena_makes_progress_on_waste-derived_sustainable_jet_fuel_plant/
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-green-wing/2010/11/solena_makes_progress_on_waste-derived_sustainable_jet_fuel_plant/#commentsWed, 10 Nov 2010 15:19:33 +0000http://the-green-wing.flightglobal.derek.rbi-blogs-dev.rmgc.russellsharpe.com/?p=17US bioenergy group Solena has moved a step closer to making its planned sustainable jet fuel plant in east London a reality.

The group just signed a letter of intent with synthetic fuels producer Rentech, under which Rentech will provide its Fischer-Tropsch technology to convert gas derived from waste biomass into liquid biofuel for use in aviation.